The cold is finally here after a mild autumn. I will be honest and admit that I’m not liking it at all. My tolerance for the cold has gotten less and less as I grow older. I fully understand the snowbird lifestyle now.

Until I think about a seasonal move to Florida, I’m finding solutions to keep warm. Here’s a practical option:

Red duffle coat (personalized 10% off promo code when you sign up with your email address). Also in blue here (up to 25% off your purchase depending on how much you spend with promo code GOBIG15).

I saw this jacket on the Girls of a Certain Age (it’s #9 on my Blogs I Follow list, which is on the right or the bottom) this morning and in a moment of weakness (or rather, freezing), I immediately purchased this down-filled coat. I opted for red instead of blue because the blue sold out in my size. But I really liked the contrast of the black leather toggles against the red, it’s just so cheerful. I’m already over my black puffer coat and it’s only November. I don’t think wool is going to cut it for me anymore in the cold, plus wool attracts dog hair like a magnet. You can give a good shake to a puffer coat or jacket and the hair will come off. My daily walks with Bella has me rethinking winter outerwear, ha.

Swoon-worthy. I have wanted to try the OTK trend since 2008, when I first spotted these in London. But I was intimidated and I assumed this trend wouldn’t last more than a couple of winter seasons. Boy, was I wrong and once Stuart Weitzman rolled out these beauties last year, I was hooked. This amaretto color is divine and I thought it was not as ubiquitous as black, normally my first choice for suede shoes/boots. I cannot wait to try these on, I hope they work because my size has since sold out online.

Have you started your Christmas wish list yet?

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Can’t believe it’s in two days!

Update: I returned the red coat because the XS I ordered was too short in the sleeves. It also had somewhat of a bell/bottom-heavy shape when it was fully zipped. I’m guessing it was the hip pockets that were on the outside and inside of the coat.

Sad news about the OTK boots, they went MIA (most likely stolen) after they were delivered. The silver lining is how Nordstrom handled the news when I called them. They immediately issued me a prompt refund and wanted to ship another pair, but they had since sold out in my size in the color I wanted. So, Nordstrom was really, really fantastic. I’m skipping the OTK boots trend for now, although I still love it on others.

Another & final update: The boots showed up at my home about a month later with major water damage. There was no note or explanation of what happened but the shipping box definitely looked like it was out in the elements for many weeks. The boots were damaged with many water stains. This confirmed that I want black or another dark suede color for my boots. In any event, I returned the boots to Nordstrom.

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